Abducted Delta monarch rescued

ASABA—THE traditional ruler, Ovie of Agbarha Kingdom, Delta State, Orhifi Enemor II, kidnapped, Wednesday, by suspected herdsmen has been liberated by the police and local vigilante.

Vanguard gathered that he was rescued following a manhunt by the vigilante team in the area.

A source said: “The monarch was finally rescued after an exchange of gunfire between the kidnappers and members of the Ossissa community vigilante team.

“They kept him in the bush and at about 2a.m., they were trying to transfer him from there to another location at the other side of the expressway, when they ran into members of the Ossissa community vigilante team.

“Then, they (the kidnappers) began to exchange fire with the vigilante members. In the process, the king escaped from the scene.”

He said the kidnappers fled the area while the monarch was later handed over to men of Dragon Patrol Team of the Delta State Police Command, who were on patrol.

However, Delta Police Command, yesterday in Warri, said that the monarch was rescued in the early hours of the day.

The Delta state’s Commissioner of Police, Mr. Zanna Ibrahim, said he led a team of 100 police operatives and 30 local vigilantes to search the Ossissa forest close to where he was abducted.

He said: “The Ovie was rescued by a police crack team personally led by me. He has been conveyed to Asaba, where he was travelling to before the incident.

“His abductors were fleeing with him to a different location after our men had combed the entire bush in search for him.

“He was abducted by herdsmen; they are very conversant with the bush, even more than the indigenes.

“Our men sighted the movement of the hoodlums through and we shot into the air and they responded.

“They engaged us in an exchange of gunfire and left the monarch behind.”

He blamed the monarch’s driver for not reversing the vehicle, when he sighted the hoodlums dispossessing other vehicles ahead of them.

“We have learnt our lessons from the kidnap; the need to be alert at all times,” he said.